May the adventure never end

After our last campsite by the creek we packed up and hit the ferry back into Seattle and drove back to our apartment. It was hard. We went on the trip with a lot of questions and came back from the trip with most of them unanswered. But we did come back with a bond, a fire in ourselves, energy, and the desire to seek harder. 

We were afraid of bringing Roslyn into our lives, we don't sit still very well and we're not very scheduled, starting off our family of 3 together as an adventure helped us prove we don't have to. It may look different than we think at times or not all go as planned but we really believe she can enhance all of that not remove it. 

We had to slow down on the trip, take breaks at beautiful waterfalls, naps near creeks, walking breaks at sunset, hike through some whiny times, it all helped us steep ourselves wholly in moments and be deeply grateful when it went as planned or better. Learn to be grateful and happy even when it totally didn't. We looked deep and found more patience and how to ask for more help. Roslyn and this road trip altered us and we feel so blessed to have gotten to take it but we're also not ready for it to be over.

Thanks to all who supported us in this and pray that we can find where we should seek next.

Killer Campsite on the Penninsula

As I've mentioned a few times, we were on the run from the smoke. One morning we woke up from our campsite and could no longer see the trees surrounding us. We were a safe distance from fires I promise but the smoke had settled around us overnight. We were tracking air quality of areas and quickly packed up and hit the road. Some patches of road were mostly clear and then we'd hit a pass that looked all socked in by smoke. It was a bummer because the lakes we drove by were beautiful lakes but the smoke had its own kind of romance and beauty that we actually kept stopping to take it in.

They way it created layers of shadow, exposed silhouettes, made island feel like they were floating in air. I wouldn't have wished smoke on us but it was quite a magical view.

Even the campfire pits created deep in the 

woods at random pull outs had no fire 

flags stuck in them

After a day of smoky driving Joshua drove up a gnarly forest hill and popped us out onto this amazing campsite. We sprawled out and enjoyed being able to feel the sun on our skin again. We took a dip in the water, let Roslyn roll around naked, and reveled in the quiet beautiful spot he'd found.

We took the next morning to make a slow breakfast, and sit outside enjoying one of our last few days afield.

Wine Country & Apprehension

In another attempt to escape the smoke we headed to eastern Washington. Crossing back into Washington was a bit arresting. Roslyn was asleep in the back and I was up front with Joshua reading when he pointed out the state line sign. We were both quiet as Walter passed by it. We hadn't know what we'd feel or when but this small sign made us feel a lot- sadness, scared, confusion, a tightness. Walter and our family were now very close to home, which meant our trip was very close to over. It was hard to let that feeling go even though we had a week or so left. Running from the smoke, back in our state, trip almost over- it felt heavy. We didn't really shake it the rest of the trip. We had a good time but you could always feel it, the apprehension and not knowing how we would feel to be "home."

But all those deep feelings aside we headed into Walla Walla to a winery that looked like they'd let us in. We were unshowered, not wearing heels or floral dresses, and had a squirmy baby. By far the most dirtbag people in the winery but we had a lovely time pretending to smell and figure out the wine. After that we headed to a pizza joint and then out to a campsite late in the evening.

Beartooth Highway, top of the world

We decided to take this road no knowing it would be so striking. We started climbing and climbing and next thing we knew we were eye level with the top of all the mountains and basically on top of the world. We kept yelling at the other to look at a beautiful snow dappled peak or bright green meadow or lake that was out our windows. The views all looked like our Norway trip and we couldn't get enough of it. 

We didn't really have a plan of where to camp that night and quickly decided we wanted to camp on top of the world. So we drove to the highest part of the highway and parked our van for the night.

We ran around scrambling on top of the rocks and taking in the views. Roslyn seemed to be a fan and was quite giggly. The wind was definitely cold up there though. Roslyn got to forgo her basket and sleep in bed with us that night, which she of course loved.

National Bison Range

We did a long drive through the National Bison Range next, didn't expect too much but Roslyn was asleep and we were up for a nice drive. The drive started out beautiful, the lighting was soft and punched all the colors up in the landscape, we saw a bison about 20 feet away and we were just chatting when 3 baby bears started playing across the road in front of us! We were both squealing, they were so cute! They were playing with  bushes, tackling one another, and running around. They were only about 15 feet from Walter.

We were happy for that to be all we saw and then we kept happening upon herds of buffalo right next to the road. The are so giant, their heads are so enormous. I love watching them slowly lumber along but then suddenly they all pick up and start running across the road. You don't expect them to have that much get up and go. Picking them out of the landscape became a fun game, one would be alone right next to you, another herd would be crouched among tall grass, another was drinking water in the distance.

We also started spotting a bunch of gazelle and deer as the sun started to go down. I was so giddy when the one with antlers peeped up over the hill and stared right at us. It was like a moving painting.

Josh finally saw the Tetons

Josh has been wanting to see the Tetons for awhile. When our drive finally brought us to the "it" shot he was very giddy. They are these beautiful string of mountains near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We spent the day near the bas of them on a nice hike in the national park. We did the String Lake hike which has you walking among the forest and constantly emerging onto viewpoints of these perfect blue lakes reflecting the mountains. 

We also had some wildlife encounters on this hike as we went in the morning. We saw a moose and her two babies and a very cute cinnamon bear was on our trail eating. Don't worry we stayed a safe distance from them but it was fun to run into them. They were all very interested in eating and could have cared less that we were around. Then, after eating lunch on a big sunny rock we headed back to our Walter but heard tons of people laughing and splashing. Came to find out a bunch of people were swimming and floating in Jenny lake. 

We basically ran back to our car to throw on suits and headed right for it. The water took some getting used to but it was the most scenic place I've every taken a dip. The mountains, blue sky, and clear water were such a treat. Roslyn even seemed okay with the experience, at least more than she did last time.